For all of its advantages, transit doesn’t offer much in the way of shortcuts. A missed train is a missed train and there’s no shortening the time that you’ll spend watching the arrival board cycle through the Zipcar and Picadilly ads until the next one pulls in. But after taking the same trains at the same stations for a while,  some riders develop a menu of minute-shaving strategies known as pre-walking.

Pre-walking involves standing at a certain place on the platform in order to board a specific car through a specific door when the train arrives. The chosen boarding point is usually one that puts the rider as close as possible to a preferred exit at the destination. These strategies aren’t always about finding the exit closest to the street or building you want. Sometimes it’s faster to go out of  your way so fewer people are in your way.

Some examples:

• The last door of the last car on a southbound train puts you closest to the less-crowded escalator at the north end of the platform (or maybe it just seems less crowded when you’re the first person to get to it) when arriving at Five Points.
•  The last door of the last car on a North Springs train puts you right at the exit at the south end of the platform at Buckhead Station – especially important since it’s still the only exit. Also, if you’re running late for the 110 bus, not having to walk the entire length of the station to get out can easily make the difference between catching it and either having to wait for the next one or walk to your destination.
• The back of the first car or the front of the last car on a train in either direction is closest to to an exit at Civic Center Station.
• The middle or last door of the last car of a Indian Creek train puts you right at the stairs on the west end of the platform at Inman Park-Reynoldstown Station. Oddly, that set of stairs is much less popular than the set at the east end of the platform, which is farther away from the exit.

To read about it, you might get the idea that pre-walking is some esoteric, expert-level transit users’ skill. Phrases like “super-secret” and “something only New Yorkers know” crop up a lot.  A bit of impatience or a tendency toward tardiness are really the only requirements, though. Besides, nothing’s a secret any more once there are apps and charts for it.

 H/T to The Atlantic Cities

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/24/world/europe/jk-rowling-new-book-deal/index.html

According to CNN, Rowling has an adult book in store for readers worldwide. After the stunning growth of her characters and her writing, there is a lot of promise in this new book.  Most people in the publishing biz don’t expect her to receive the same success as HP.  I, however, have an optimistic approach for this book. Maybe it’s because I enjoyed the development of the HP series, but out of courtesy to another writer I believe we all can develop in different levels of writing. The switch from young adult to adult may be difficult for some writers. There is a huge difference in the themes and style of young adult that make the literature part of that genre.

According to the article, Rowling’s editor of choice is known for crime thrillers giving a hint to the book’s contents. The rumor is that Rowling’s setting will be her hometown of Edinburgh, and she may be writing a whodunnit. I am thoroughly excited about this because I have a special place in my heart for crime novels. It is important to note that having new books by well-known authors may help the publishing industry. With a name like Rowling on a new book, people may stop and buy the book.

We will have to wait for the book to come out to be sure, but the anticipation for Rowling’s new book definitely has me inspired.

http://goinswriter.com/good-writers-read/

Some of the time, reading is what provokes the inspiration to write. I know that my first inspiration to write came in 5th grade, when I discovered the wonderful world of Bruce Coville. He is a young adult fantasy writer who specialized in writing about unicorns. Needless to say, his ability to create a world unlike any in existence lead me to my passion for writing. However, the love of writing never would have developed, if not for my love of reading.

For a few writers, their belief is that writing just happens. You don’t read the work of the competition or important authors before them. They don’t think that taking the time to read is beneficial because they don’t have a love for reading as a foundation. Just think of how many writers you have met that just don’t seem to “get it”. They spend their days sitting at their computer, talking about their ideas, but never seem to get it on the page.

If you've seen this scene from Family Guy, you know these guys don't read to help become better writers. They're tools!

They usually won’t be published, and they can’t figure out why. “No one understands my style, my voice,” they will chant. My response is– “You don’t have any of that if you don’t know what has been written before you.”

No, I’m not talking about the classics, or the stories we reading in high school. I’m talking about influential books for the craft. Authors who have revolutionized your particular genre are vital to understand your own writing. Take for example, my ignorance in the science fiction genre. I haven’t read nearly enough of the classic sci-fi authors. I recently picked up Issac Asimov, and I hadn’t heard of him in great detail before I began searching for great science fiction books to read. Pages into one of his books, I understood the complexity necessary to create a great science fiction book. Within minutes I learned a new facet of the genre I was attempting to write.

Some of the most important skills we can learn as writers come from the time spent reading. While the blog post above states that any reading can help, I’m going to focus on just reading in your genre can shape your writing skills. As I have mentioned before I can break down the types of reading into three categories.  Reading as a reader (for pleasure), reading as a student (for analysis), and reading as a writer (to absorb skills/ideas).

The three key elements of the influence of reading, according to the blog post:

1.) Reading with a purpose is useless- His first point is imperative to learning from reading. If you read with something in  mind (other than reading the book) you’re going to limit the experience. Reading as you would for pleasure is important because it develops your love of reading.

2.) Language is the key to writing- The easiest skill you can learn from other writers is how to handle language. As budding writers, we are clumsy (well I know I am) with language. We don’t have the experience to use our words wisely. So, to gain the experience we read what the best writers have done. At the same time, reading bad use of language teaches us how NOT to write, which is equally important.

3.) Read suggestions from other writers-This element is especially helpful is bringing variety to the normal type of books your read. It also allows you to converse and connect with other writers. This bond is crucial to learning not only from the books, but from the writers who recommend them.

I will add only a few additions to his list of how reading helps your writing.

4.) Read contemporary books, and ones in your genre of choice- By reading contemporary books (not necessarily on the best-seller’s list) you learn what books are being chosen by the general audience. You also learn what openings are available in the market for you particular style or ideas. Reading the books in your genre (competition) allows you to understand your audience in an intimate level. For example, werewolves and vampires are HOT in the fantasy genre. While they have always been fairly popular, it is because of one contemporary series (  :/ Twilight ) that has driven trends in the genre. It is vital to know where you fit now in the market as well as what readers look for in stories being published. Make sure you take the ideas of the competition in stride. It’s not meant to change your writing to what they’re doing. You can find the differences an advantage as well as what you could write differently.

So, go out and read. Read old books, new ones, and ones your friends tell you are good reads. Speaking of, Goodreads.com is a great place to compare books you’ve read, and get suggestions from people across the globe.

Happy writing AND reading!

One problem. The ignorance of my purchase was validated when I picked up the book, Foundation and Empire to find that it is the second installment in the trilogy. In addition, I had purchased the third installment, Second Foundation, which was sitting at home waiting to be read.

I have the two books on the right: The ones with the orange and blue cover art.

How could I begin the series without the first installment?

Well, folks here is the kicker. I have a secret habit of reading most new series out of order. You’re probably thinking: Just go and buy the other book you need and then read it. My response: Why should I wait to read the story when I have two perfectly good books right here? I can go back and read the beginning of the series later. This mantra has consumed my life for as long as I remember. I pick up a book, read the entire thing, then find out there are three other books that come before and after it.

This accidental out of order reading has happened so often, I have accepted it as a normal habit when reading books. It is rather comical going back, and thinking about what book series I have read in the most interesting order.

Let me take you back to the first time I read a book in a series out of order. It’s 1999, I’m 10 and walked through Kmart or some department store. I’m with my dad when I notice the following cover of a book. It’s a thick book, but up until then I hadn’t seen a good fantasy novel that caught my attention.

I asked my dad to buy the book for me, and by the end of the trip I was at home reading it. Now I might have known about the series if I paid attention to the news, but the internet wasn’t as instantaneous or important to me at 10 years old. No, I read the book cover to cover, never knowing it was the third book in a series of seven.

How can a 10 year old say no to that?!

What book series, you ask? Harry Potter. The book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I was hooked on the story, but didn’t have any more of the books to fuel my addiction. Slowly I began collecting the other books (in the right order from that point) so that I could read the entire story of this boy wizard.

The funny thing about reading a series out of order is how your perception of the story changes. As you acquire more information, the story shapes itself like clay being molded rather than a flower unfolding. For most of the novel, I thought Harry Potter was actually Neville Longbottom because he gave a fake name while getting on the Knight Bus. Try thinking that the main character is pretending to be someone else, then going back to read the first book to find out he’s someone entirely different. Even at a young age, I loved piecing together the story line rather than just read it in order.

Let’s jump ahead to high school. I spent as much time as my schedule would allow in the library. Like any good bookworm, I sought after compelling books to take up my waking hours. As I searched though the stacks I came upon the final book in Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality series.

You see that one down there on the bottom right? That's the book I chose to read first!

Anthony is one of many fantasy/science fiction writers that inspired my career today, but our relationship started out a little hazy. Like I said, I picked up the book And Eternity, thinking it was a standalone novel. I was impressed to find that it was the final part (well, now I know it’s the second to last book because he added another one on and I just found out) of the series. I wouldn’t figure this out until I picked up the 5th book in the series of 7. To save time, I will name in numerical order how I read the series: 7,5,1, 3,2,4,6. I know, I know, it seems like the weirdest way to read a series, but it worked. The shock when I discovered the connections between book 5 and 6 were much more drastic than if I had read them in order. The discovery of connections was confusing at first, but eventually became a satisfying result.

It may seem as backwards as reading the series in reverse, but the adrenaline rush I received from putting the story together is incomparable to reading it in chronological order. Also, the fact that I have found an additional book in the series I thought was finished makes me incredibly excited.

Check out the middle book in the bottom row. Doesn't it look appealing?

Moving on to a more recent trip down out of order lane, I was perusing through the fantasy section of a book store when I came upon this series. It was clearly stated that it was part of a series, but I had no clue in what order. Like most chain bookstores, they might have two or three selections from a series or from the author. In this case, I picked up what looked like the most appealing cover matched with the back cover blurb. Again, I had chosen the second to last book in the series, Cape Storm. 

Did that stop me from reading it? Hell, no. This time, though, it took me a bit longer to read the rest of the series. In this instance, I didn’t have the time or cash to supply my addiction. The time separating the first read from the rest of the series spanned two years at least. When it came to finding the other books, it took little research. Half.com provided me with perfect prices to own the series, IN ORDER. After choosing a book at the very end, I decided to try reading it in order. Only that didn’t work either. While attempting to find the right price for the books, I bought a few that were not in numerical order. One from the beginning, two from the middle, and a few missing in between. I read whatever arrived in the mail. I don’t remember exactly what order I read them, but the reaction was the same. Joy from piecing together a story I first read years before. The details of the first book were a little hazy, but eventually everything fell into place. At the moment, I am a few pages into the final book.

It’s sad to think most people never give this a shot. It’s somewhat like the idea Japanese manga has by placing the order of their books right to left rather than the normal setup. It’s a secondary challenge added on to the act of reading. You are the reader first and foremost, but you have the opportunity to approach the series from whatever angle you chose. You aren’t limited to reading it in the linear fashion we are taught. The book police aren’t going to burst into your room because you haven’t read the first book first.

Take a few minutes and think of what your favorite series would be like if you read it out of order. Try taking your favorite book of the series. Start from there and see how the story would change. It might surprise you how much you take for granted reading in order.

Share your story if you have ever read a series out of order! Maybe I’m not the only crazy one!

http://electricliterature.com/blog/2012/02/15/the-facebook-book/

For regular FB users, this may be the only exposure they have to good writing or any writing at all. It is a chance to show how beneficial social media can be. It’s not just about share minute by minute life updates. In its purest form, social media sites like FB help people share things that are lost in the culture.

It is much easier for people to read a book by flipping through photos constantly updated on their FB wall than to go buy a tangible book. The bibliophile/bookworm in me cringes to say, but not every one can love books like that. So this social experiment gives those potential readers a chance to see a book in a different light.

One of the most interesting aspects of the experiment is the readers’ reactions. Epstein was shocked at the immediate response he received. Similar to the reaction an author receives with a public reading, Epstein could see which parts of the book people enjoyed, what they shared with their friends, and what the readers thought.

It is instant gratification for author and readers alike. Although I have not seen the book, I find his optimism inspiring. If one man can hope to transform the exposure of the book into a social media experience through Facebook, then there is so much more in store for writing. The innovation has only just begun in this digital age, and it isn’t slowing. In fact, I think this will be one of many new ideas for sharing books that defies our previous notions and expectations. I give Epstein credit for his creativity. I hope he finds more inspiration for greater ideas.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/author-publishes-book-as-facebook-photo-album_b47197

As hesitant as I am to switch to e-books, there is something magical about this blog post. This author has published his writing and successfully sold his e-books online. Now you must be thinking, that’s success? I thought success for a writer was getting in the New York Times Bestseller’s List. How do you do that self-publishing in digital form? Well, it’s easy.

Being on that list is overrated. If you look at the books on those lists, you’ll find a majority of them have sacrificed more than they needed to get their book published.  According to Konrath and many writers (including myself) success doesn’t come from millions of books sold. It comes from one. Stephen King once said if you get paid for your writing, you’re a success. The truth is that if you get satisfaction from your writing that should be all that matters.

Don’t set your sights on a career that is littered with rejection, despair, and loss of money. Maybe, the future of writers is in taking the publishing into our own hands or smaller groups of people looking out for the creators of the works. We deserve some credit after years of being underpaid. We need to be recognized for the work we do, instead of being swept under the rug if we don’t make millions in the first year. What if paying for the groceries is enough? Selling a few books a day may be all the success you need to fulfill your dream.

Join the revolution! Self-sufficient, confident writers who take the action into their own hands. They make their books happen because they have the dream that no one else supported. Now we don’t have to create a pile of rejection letters. We can publish our books on our own letting the fate of the readers decide our paycheck rather than a corporation that doesn’t know us.

Although this revolution is just beginning, don’t rule it out. Someday, self-published e-books may become the standard. Give it a try if you’re ready and the big business publishers just don’t see the same vision you do.

Yes, ideally we all think we should be able to sell millions of books, but that isn’t the most important aspect of writing. What’s most important is being true to yourself as a writer to affect someone else with your words.  To me, if I can make one reader learn about him/herself or more about life, then I’m a success. I want to entertain. If I can pay the bills, even better!

One of the shortcomings of traditional publishing as we all know is dealing with the big wigs, the publishers,editors, even agents taking parts of the profit. One of the solutions to that is e-books. The cost of making the books is terrible. As much as I love print books, they cost money to make. That money comes out of the profit of selling the books. If my book fails all of those book costs come out of my future. If I don’t make millions for the people that invest thousands into me, my career is sunk.

The glory of self-publishing is that the writer takes the majority of the profits in royalties. The money isn’t divided 15 ways to nothing by the time it gets back to the creator. The allure of this is so tempting that writers all over the world are jumping on the self-pubbed, e-book bandwagon. AND IT WORKS! It’s not something one or two writers are making money from now.

The key to success is the faith you have in yourself to achieve your dreams

This is the future of writing. It may just be the beginning, but think of a world where writers get to choose how their book turns out. Give it a shot because when no one else has the faith in your book to make millions, you do. You can publish it and make as much money as you are willing to market it. That control/freedom has never been felt before by writers. With the internet at your fingertips you can reach the readers of the globe in an instant, and reap the benefit in a much more personal way.

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/02/14/25-things-you-should-know-about-protagonists/

For high school students learning English/literary terms is the bane of their existence. Two of the most common terms are protagonist and antagonist. What do most kids think this means? Protagonist-good guy. Antagonist-bad guy.Sadly, some of these kids grow up to adults thinking that these are the real definitions. I would love to go smack whatever idiot who started spreading this definition around because it gives readers the wrong idea when they reference a book’s characters. It’s also important for writers to understand an intimate definition of both these terms.

Protagonist is the chief character that is altered by the people/action in the story. The stereotypical definition might include the fact that the protagonist is the primary character in the story, but that is the closest thing it has to accuracy. The antagonist is more misunderstood than the protagonist. They get the reputation of being the bad guy or the one that opposes the protagonist. Again, the definition is dead wrong. Antagonist actually represents a character that changes the people/action in the story. They are typically the secondary character, but don’t have to be.

While most people will disagree with these intricate definitions, they represent a detailed understanding of the characters. Either in literature or contemporary writing, the characters need to be carefully designed to flow in the plot. Feel free if you want to write a hero that only does good, and a bad guy directly opposite him that tries to thwart him. However, writing anything other than a medieval fantasy/comic book doesn’t fall into this format. For everything else the definition above applies. It’s simple and helps alleviate any limitations when creating your characters.

The link above will take you to a post titled, “25 Things You Should Know About Protagonists,” which happens to agree pretty well with my definition. The blogger goes on to describe other aspects of the protagonists you should keep in mind while writing.

Your protagonist doesn’t have to be loved all of the time. That’s what makes them realistic. It’s good to have your protagonist do something unconventional or mean. You don’t want to make the reader hate them, but sometimes it might happen.

This is what happens when your protagonist isn't karate chopping zombie ninjas

There is something about a boring protagonist that ruins the entire book. If you can’t get the reader caring about the protagonist, you don’t have an audience. To me, a protagonist just needs to be a person you would want to know or have known. Whether it be a person on television or a personality trait from a neighbor, take ideas from real people. It’s profitable. There are insanely entertaining people right outside your door. If they have a cool story to go with them, better for you!

If you look back at my definition of the protagonist one thing is clear. There MUST BE CHANGE! Whether it be from the antagonist or self-reflection of the protagonist, change moves the story along. People like to see change because that’s life. Just like Hamlet finding the courage to stand up to his father (albeit after most of the play and sending his girlfriend to suicide); he changed himself for the better of the story.

One of the most exciting things on this list is number 12. Are you an innie or an outie? The blogger describes inner and outer stories. It represents the action going on inside the head of the protagonist compared to the one happening outside of the character’s head. What the post did not discuss is the way p.o.v factors into the story development. Whether it be internal monologue in one chapter or the entire novel from first person p.o.v., there is a difference of inner/outer story because of the p.o.v. A writer that choses p.o.v. doesn’t have as much inner story untold. According to the post, the inner story isn’t detailed as much as the outer story, but with first person you see the story from the character’s inner thoughts. There are so many options you have the chance to pick what p.o.v. is perfect for your story.

The post goes on to describe the other options you have writing your protagonist. You can create multiple protagonists (see Stephen King’s Under the Dome where he writers upwards of 8 protagonists in one book) where the writer isn’t limited to just one protagonist. It may seem like overkill or suicide to write more than one, but sometimes the story requires more than one. On the other hand, you can create a protagonist that ends up being the fake one, throwing off the reader the entire time! These ideas allow the writer to have some fun with the story and the reader.

Sadly, the toughest part of writing the protagonist is that you have to hurt them. Psychologically, physically, or any other -cally the protagonist has to hurt to truly make the story worthwhile. Once the readers begin to sympathize (or hate) the protagonist, you have the opportunity to fortify their idea of the protagonist or drastically change it. You get to control how the reader feels about the protagonist by the end of the story based on how they are hurt.

The end of the post gives the most important tips when writing the protagonist. It starts with the reality that you can’t have a perfect, ideal protagonist. It doesn’t make a good story to have someone who never fails or has flaws. It’s boring and predictable. I realize that people may want to write those kind of characters, but you shouldn’t. It’s not fair to those characters, you, or the story.  What’s even more important is putting YOU in the protagonist. The best possible resource we have to make a realistic protagonist is yourself. Hopefully you know you well enough to pick pieces of you to give to that protagonist. You can improve a flat character greatly by putting the best/worst parts of you into it.

Ultimately, the goal of the protagonist is to relate to the reader, even if the protagonist is vastly different than most of the readers. As long as the readers see a little of themselves in the protagonist, there is a basic connection that is made. This can take you through the entire book if you make a good enough character. You don’t have to make one for every person out there because we will always find something in common with other human beings. The important part is that you remember these tips and try to put some of you in the story, too.

Happy writing!

For all the writers out there, here is a helpful blog post dedicated to helping you to write the best quality stories. The post “Why Your Novel Characters Need Real Flaws” describes a way to enhance your novel characters and make them more realistic.

http://www.rachellegardner.com/2012/02/why-your-novel-characters-need-real-flaws/

The post begins by addressing the definition of real flaws in characters. You’re attempting to make real people out of your imagination and addressing the personality of the characters.

“It’s a flaw that affects those around your character in a significant way, a weakness with serious consequences, not just angst or temporary hurt feelings.”

When you realize a character is forming in your mind, usually it takes a life of its own rather quickly. Filling out a character sheet helps you to figure out the finer points of who a character is, but it takes a lot of time to develop flaws in characters. Unless it’s a villain, we don’t want our characters to have things wrong with them. We want them to be good and overcome their flaws without too many obstacles. We don’t want them to have negative personality traits that make them unlikable.  When you allow your character to do bad things, the reader doesn’t necessarily agree and want to continue reading. You’re faced  with the task to either be true to the story (what the character wants to do) and making the reader happy. Ideally, you want to achieve both, which creates a good story from good writing.

Sometimes it helps to have someone show you what makes a good character. By reading other writers, it helps you understand how they develop good characters or bad ones. If you can believe and relate to a character, it usually means that the flaws in the character are realistically written. The post goes on to explain the difference between cosmetic flaws (that writers tend to write) and real flaws that make characters like real people.

Every cosmetic flaw is a victimless half of the real flaw it replaces. Here are two examples:

Cosmetic character flaw: Insecurity. Its real counterpart: envy and sabotage

Cosmetic character flaw: Fearfulness. Its real counterpart: disloyalty under pressure

The cosmetic flaws are petty things. Things that writers think will give the character a realistic personality, but it actually creates an illusion of real flaws. Being “politically correct” or “sugar-coating” the problem masks what is really underneath. They might seem like a nice way to put a flaw so that it doesn’t hurt the reader, but it doesn’t make the character more realistic. The writer is playing God and sticking a mask on the character that wasn’t supposed to be there.

The question the writer of the blog poses is which flaws create good writing. If you want to write fiction that doesn’t affect its readers, write with cosmetic flaws. If you want your writing to create a reaction from the readers that changes their lives, you use real flaws. To put it simply, real is better than fake. Fiction may be created from the imagination, but it comes from the truth of the world around us. We need to tap into the emotions and basics of truth to build the story on. If we use characters that the reader feels are real, the fictional parts of the story are handled with ease.

I immediately felt a need to assess my characters after reading this post and it ultimately changed my mind on character development. I knew that I needed to work on the flaws of a character so the reader accepts my stories better. I was able to focus on what I thought the flaws were in my main character, and change it to create a person rather than just a flat character.

What struggles do you have with characters? Is it in their flaws or in their actions?

This is the world I was brought into and I love it!

My lovely friend from Facebook posted the following link that took me back to the awesome childhood I had. Lucky for me, I was born after the war/peace problems of the 70s, and the crazy days of the 80s. The 90s offered a cool relief for children with the rise of the greatest children’s movies Disney has ever created and toys that will confuse generations to come.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/10-things-90s-kids-will-have-to-explain-to-their-children/

The 90s were like a pool of great cartoons, fun toys, and not a care in the world. With the internet on the cusp of becoming the greatest thing in the world, kids in the 90s cared more about good entertainment than tweeting (just yet). The first item on the 90s list–Boy Meets World. Where else would the girl next door be named Topanga instead of Emily or Jenny? Only in the 90s could the leading lady of one of the best tv shows have the strangest name. It will live forever in hearts to see the weird girl use lipstick to paint a heart on her face in the legendary Mr. Feeney’s class.

I think his wardrobe came from Saved by the Bell

Next on the list is the Tamagotchi, the first experience at virtual pet ownership. This isn’t as difficult to handle for kids these days because they have DS Lights with pet games and Kinect Animals.

The most exciting aspect of the list is one Will Smith. Now we know he is a badass from years of movies, but he became the badass with Men in Black during the 90s. He showed us what he was made of and the public loved it. We still do and when Men in Black III comes out we will continue to love him in a way that our children will never understand.

These cartoons were da BOMB!

The rest of the list, Fern Gully, beanie babies, and Lisa Frank are all part of what made growing up the 90s fun! What we miss is the carefree nature of  living and the lack of paranoia between parents and children.

I watched Sailor Moon, Charmed, and the plethora of Disney movies that entertained me to no end. Pop music reigned supreme and everyone had slap bracelets. It was the funkiest, chillest time to be a kid. Back when tv was actually fun to watch, MTV still had music on it, and your toys still required your imagination.

Instead of playing Mobwars online, we were playing with Nerf guns and Supersoakers. It was a time where kids still loved playing outside more than sitting in front of the computer. Skip it, Slip N Slide, and yo-yos were the norm. What was even more powerful were dolls and action figures. Polly Pockets, Power Rangers, Transformers, and Hungry Hungry Hippos entertained us for ours. Easy Bake Ovens taught girls how to bake and Pokemon/ Magic taught boys how to trade. The world of the 90s where imagination was not stunted by high quality graphics and realistic virtual reality in games.

This the lack of paranoia I'm talking about

I loved the 90s and without knowing the other decades, I say it’s the best for kids to have lived in. Share your favorite part of the 90s!

This 261 page book was difficult not in the sense that it was hard to read, but that I was attempting to read like a writer. As I’ve mentioned before, reading can be broken down into three easy categories.

1) Reading as a reader (for pleasure)- It is the most common and easy way to read. You are reading to enjoy the story and not to dissect the writing. Sometimes you just need to crawl away from the world and read to escape the realities.

2) Reading as a student (to analyze)- This is the most familiar for high school and college students. There is an English Comp. or Literature class requiring you to write about a book that you have to read. You read the book knowing what to look for in the words to write a paper.

3) Reading as a writer (to learn)-The action of a writer reading another writer’s work is different than anything else in the reading world. We don’t judge another author’s work, but try to understand how they accomplished such a feat. Especially for a young writer like myself, it is an important skill to learn from experienced authors.

Knowing I had a daunting task ahead to learn how to read like a writer, I took my time. Over the course of three weeks, I labored over this book. You would think it might take a week with how determined I am to get a good grade, but that’s not the case. This book is simply about a woman coming to terms with her closest brother’s suicide. What do you have when you mix an exotic setting (Ireland) with a great tragedy (suicide), and drop in a couple repressed memories from a deranged family? You get one confusing book. Not confusing in the sense that you couldn’t connect the story together from chapter to chapter. It is the viewpoint of the entire books. Going from imaginative memories of Veronica’s grandparents to interactions with her deranged mother, any reader can feel her confusion.

At the risk of sounding cocky, I feel like this could be on purpose by the author. Without the confusion in this woman’s life, we wouldn’t be able to understand where she’s coming from. Death can do crazy things to your life, especially with marriage, secrets, and family gatherings. The ending leaves you wanting more coinciding almost exactly with the feelings of the narrator.

I was stunned, absolutely stunned at the ending. Not because I can’t imagine things that happen when a family gets together, but it is still more shocking to someone outside of the family. Overall, the book was satisfying. It’s relative to everyone in one way or another. Regardless of how crazy your family is, it’s nice to see that other families are worse. My next step is to write this paper. Although it should be a piece of cake, I don’t want it to fall short. There is a need for me to go above and beyond what I did in my undergrad. It’s easier because I’m not analyzing the text to find a certain theme. Instead, I’m asked to find what aspects of the book I like and what has affected my writing so far.

In 5-8 pages, I think I can do this in one day let alone three. It’s easy to find what you like or don’t like about a book. With the sticky notes and scribbles in the margin, I feel like my work will pay off. So, here goes my late night start to the first critical essay!

Make sure you check out The Gathering by Anne Enright!

http://www.cracked.com/blog/8-unexpected-downsides-switch-to-e-books/

What happens when you take a well-known comedic site and combine it with the debate of oh the next 50 years or so? The monstrosity of an article shown above. It details the satirical and true downsides to e-books coming to power.

The first downside, you ask? Where will assassins hold their guns? With security and surveillance becoming more high tech, assassins and hit men must become more creative in hiding their weaponry.  So why not just hide it in your coat? Metal detectors solve that problem outright and as the author of the article goes through the strangest places to hide a gun, we come across books as the cliched place to hide a gun. If e-books take over and make books obsolete (don’t think it will happen for a while) then carrying one around will be odd and out of place, making guns in books undesirable for killers.

The list continues to include mundane tasks like holding up a wobbly table and doodling in textbooks. While people might not find ultimate value in these odd reasons, the root of them is the same. What happens if we change the entire facet of books? Just like phones when they became mobile, the culture began to change to create something people 50 years ago wouldn’t recognize. The mobile phone example is perfect because while most people use their cell phones,  land lines are still prominently used. The influx of cell phone eventually leveled out and became consistent while land lines were simply used less. To me, this seems like a possible example future for books. As print books have been such a long standing form in the medium, I believe they will hold strong to the people who need them. At the same time, there isn’t anything wrong with using both for different reasons and keeping the history of the medium alive.

One of the most interesting downsides on the list is the use of ancient texts and mystical books in movies and games. Many movie plots and even whole genres rely on the use of books that either have a magical quality or important information only found in old books. There would be no plot to The NeverEnding Story without the old, mysterious book. If you replaced the mysterious, almost magical book with a Kindle, the movie wouldn’t have the magic in it.  Where would the old witch find her potion recipes or the young sorcerer learn his trade. For the fantasy genre, it almost solely relies on the use of these ancient books in the plot to suck us in to the story. Would we take those out and replace them with e-books as most technological updates have required of movies? I don’t know, but I sure don’t want to live in a world where I’d have to find out.

We move on in the list to the use of books in opening secret passages and the sanitation of bathroom reads. One of the things people don’t understand about new technology is how it truly affects our perception of the world and changes our culture. While some people prefer to read harlequin books in the bathroom rather than take them out into the world, e-readers require you to have all your books in one place. This isn’t ideal for the bathroom reader, but neither is by two Kindles just so you can read on the John.

Speaking of changing culture, the most shocking realization of e-books rising above print books is book burning. What has plagued controversial books for decades? The threat (or not) of book burning. Contrary to Fahrenheit 451, replacing paper books would make book burning less appealing. Would you rather burn a bunch of 5 dollars books or burn a $200 electronic device that doesn’t actually hold the only copy of the book. It make the statement of book burning completely useless.

For authors like Mark Twain and J.K. Rowling (as well as librarians and bibliophiles) this could be a relief. However, the point of book burning is not such a terrible thing, is it? Does it stand to reason that a book, which can rile the masses to burn its pages is important? Without this option, how would we know that books hold a power above just the pages? If a book on an e-reader is too controversial, you would just get rid of it. You wouldn’t burn your Nook. The only indication that a book was too controversial would be the peer reviews on the app and Oprah’s Book Club wouldn’t read it. Although I’m obviously against burning books (unless I’m stranded and have a bunch of Twilight books), there is something powerful in that action to stand against someone’s view of the world. Though many people would find it a blessing to be rid of this act, I find that the world would be a less honest place if radicals couldn’t burn books and provoke people to read them more.

Either way, there are upsides and comical downsides to e-books, but this much is true. There is no way for us to know the results (positive or negative) of this new technology until it has had more time to prosper. Print books have had hundreds of years of head start. Give e-books time. They may have their hindrances, but everything in the world does. Cracked as always gives you a relaxed way of looking at a heated, sensitive issue.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/temecula/temecula-headlines-index/20120211-temecula-write-of-your-life-helps-teens-overcome-challenges.ece

Interestingly enough, it is an instructional program for at-risk teen girls, teaching them how to cope with life and their struggles. Seems like any old youth development program, right? Wrong. The program gives girls who have experienced broken homes or drug abuse a chance to work with mentors, and learn how to express themselves through writing. The girls have a 10 week period where they learn how to write down their feelings in a safe and encouraging environment. In the end, the girls are able to trust their female mentors as they are provided with the encouragement to do more for themselves.

As much as I would have liked this program to be co-ed, I find the outlet the program has chosen to be truly inspiring. The program has found the value in writing that some of us have known all along. For girls AND boys, struggling with difficult situations, writing is a way to get out everything without hurting yourself or others. While some people think writing isn’t difficult or a worthwhile career, to us it is the most fulfilling.

Writing demands us to confront our biggest fears and the flaws of the world around us in order to document it. We don’t just think up a cool story out of nowhere. Most, if not all of the time, writing comes from the author’s own  heart. It is the inner struggle the writer has had to overcome. That ability to overcome those fears comes from writing it down. You can hide your fears in the back of your mind, but once it’s on paper you and everyone that reads it has to face it.

Like a diary that can be therapeutic in relieving you from restless thoughts, writing in general can help build a better you. It teaches you to analyze things from different perspectives (as a writer and reader), and demands of you to sacrifice your blood, sweat, and tears (sometimes) to create a story that people can relate. As a writer, you become more sensitive to the world around you. You may not notice it at first, but sometimes you can perceive life better than the people living it.

Now, these girls want to be lawyers and youth leaders, but the development is the same. They learn to express themselves and what is important to them, so that they can move on to bigger, better parts of their lives. It is admirable for the mentors and volunteers of this program to understand the value writing has in life, just as writer do. It is imperative to understand the complex life we humans live. It is even more important in a world of faceless interactions and people who don’t trust one another to use writing as a way of expression. Not everyone is cut out to be a writer, but that is understandable. But everyone can use writing as a way to understand their own thoughts and their own life in an intimate way.

This quote sums up the reason why writing is good for everyone

While  many people think a bookworm would be a lover of books, it is defined instead a branch of the bibliophile. A bookworm is a person who loves books for their content, in other words, for reading. Two seemingly synonymous words actually have a different meaning, just a similar starting point.

Now what do you think when you hear the word bibliomaniac? Sounds like a crazy person, right? Well, you’ve got the root of the definition right there in maniac. It describes a person clinically crazy about books. Now you’re thinking, that can’t be too bad, can it? It’s a version of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that revolves around collecting and sometimes hoarding books. Again, not that bad, right? Not necessarily. For some people being obsessed with books isn’t a life goal and it’s difficult to live in the shadow of those who make books their entire life.

http://members.forbes.com/fyi/2005/1212/162.html

The above link depicts the life of a man who has oh too many bibliomaniacs in his life.  As I read through the story, I felt bad for both the son and his father. The father was addicted to books like drugs, but loved them honestly. He may have neglected his marriage, but he enriched his children and grandchildren with art and history. Unlike most bibliomaniacs, he didn’t hoard books with no point. He was also a bibliophile. He loved them so much that he bought author memorabilia, visited the sites of the famous authors, and passed on the books to his children.  The sad part of the story begins when the author’s father suffers a stroke and the vultures of the world swoop down and scarf up his amazing collection of rare books and art like he was already dead. It was a shame two generations before the author had been spent collecting this priceless library only to have it taken away in his father’s sleep.

The man had known what his collection was worth in dollars, but it was worth so much more in love and enjoyment. He was devastated to find his priceless companions kidnapped in his absence.  He could no longer pass everything down to his son. Even the settlement was not fair to this lover of books. They returned some art, only a few books, and money. Money? Money doesn’t replace the connection the man and his family had to the books. While bibliomania can be considered a curse to some, I’m sure the author respected and treasured the childhood he had because of the love his father and grandfather had for books.

The author ends the story on a positive note because the experience with his book-obsessed father has impressed an important moral in his life. That although his father’s books are now passed around throughout the world, that is the true beauty of them. To share books is to realize their importance and create a bond with other people based on those books. Collecting and reading books forms memories that surpass the ownership of those books in one’s life, but never leave the person whose read them. It is a lovely relationships between the imagination and the soul. The author ends the article with the beginning of his book collection. It seems that no matter how hard you try, bibliophiles and bibliomaniacs alike understand the value of books. Appreciating them yesterday, reading them today, and passing them on to future generations tomorrow.

If my library looked like this, it would be worth going crazy over books!

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-kinsley-column-felix-salmon-20120210,0,1549723.story

Immediately, I became interested in a title like that especially with my new love for blogging and expressing myself in the digital world. I was also offended. Yes, a good writer takes time to create, but I don’t believe everyone (including myself) could be contributing to some of the terrible writing on the internet. I know it’s out there. We see it every day on Facebook and Twitter. The lack of spelling skills and distinction of the correct words in sentences is apparent in a majority of our friends. We thought they were intelligent until we saw what they posted for their status.

However, I tend to give a benefit of the doubt for anyone willing to take the time and dedication to write a blog at least once a day. It takes either a good writer or one who relies on the spell check to consistently put out content. Now, whether the content is good quality or not depends on the education of the blogger. I know that some people think they are entitled to write because they have been moderately educated, but sometimes they still don’t know how to do it. I get that those people contribute to the bad writing on the internet. But it can’t be that many people, right? To Kinsley, it’s too many. He details the opinion of a famous financial blogger about the quality of blogging and online writing. Not only has it degraded in quality, but the amount has increased exponentially.

So, if you increase the product and reduce the quality, what do you get? A million versions of the same crappy product. Do the consumers (online readers) seem to care or notice? Hell, no and we all know why. Because nobody cares about it anymore. No one is willing to take the time or pay someone to take the time and check for grammatical/any other kind of accuracy. I know that I am nowhere near the perfect writer. I’m not even a good one yet. At least, I admit that I have a lot to learn, and that I am willing to take criticism to learn more. The majority of these people pushing out these crappy quality blogs don’t realize they aren’t writing well AND they don’t care to learn to become better writers. Instead, every consumer (reader) settles for this mediocrity because as long as there is stuff on the internet dumb enough for us to understand, we don’t care if it’s right.

By the end of the article, the author describes the reality that all of the qualities of good writing could be overrated. Now, if we are speaking to the new generation and those bad writers on the internet, I agree. To them, it’s overrated because they don’t understand or respect it. Nevertheless, I disagree greatly that the qualities of good writing should just be thrown out because some people think they are exempt from it. Look, these rules of writing were not created to be forgotten just because the medium changes. Instead, the rules should be enforced. Without rules, society has no order. While I believe that some rules can be bent and altered in certain situations, what makes writing good is that people can make a good quality story without cutting corners. It is the people that cut corners that make me sick. The authors that don’t actually follow the rules, but end up selling millions on a book that isn’t very good.

I feel like the quality of online writing is simply the tip of the iceberg. It is not only that some people think they don’t have to write well and will be received by readers. It’s that publishers, writers, and readers will make a book popular not because they value the story for what it is, but for its market value. We use the term “selling out” when a writer gives in the requests of the publisher or popular theme because it will make money. Writers write the story that only they can tell a certain way. Not everyone should write a romance just because it’s popular. If that were the case, they wouldn’t all be good. I wish that people could understand that the books on the best-seller’s list are not all good writing. Just because they make money, doesn’t mean it was actually difficult to write. Now, you would like to think that the writers actually worked to create a good story, but most of them are written to make money. And in this age, you don’t have to be complicated to entertain. The quality is down because it doesn’t take good quality to entertain a reader for a few hours. This is such a sad reality because there are so many underrated writers not on the best-seller’s list or not even published because they won’t “sell out” to the most popular idea. It’s become a staple for people to read a best-seller and assume it is good writing because it’s made money.

For example, Twilight. Regardless of the people who enjoyed the STORY, which was entertaining I will admit. I read the books to entertain myself and they did the job. That’s it, though. They didn’t make me think, care, or even work hard to read the book. And yet it has made millions. It doesn’t have half of the things that make a good quality book. It may have a catchy, entertaining story, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a good book. The author knew her audience and gave them an entertaining story that took her the least amount of effort and time to write. I bet she spent more time marketing her book (websites, blog that she was good at) than she did actually writing a good quality book. People loved the book. They ate it up like candy. It didn’t matter how it was written anymore. What mattered was if it entertained people enough to buy the whole series and pass it along to their friends. Is this what writing has come to? Wasting the space on the internet just to get a name rather than a quality product out? Filling up our shelves or best-seller’s list with books that entertain, but don’t change lives.

Now, I know that I may be scrutinized for my previous sentences about Twilight, but it’s true. From those who have spent years reading hundreds of books and learned how to write well, it is difficult to see something mediocre make millions. We watch the quality diminish and we’re supposed to stay silent because people like it? Bull! I’m not going to sit back and wait for the Stephenie Meyer’s and Michael Kinsley’s accept mediocre writing as our future.

I will continue to become a better writer and give a good quality product. No matter how much time I take to write my blog, I know that I’m not diminishing my worth as a writer. I will fight to show people that learning how to write is the most important part of life because it is! Writing, reading, and speaking are the most vital skills we can acquire. They lay the foundation for the rest of our lives. If we allow the quality of these skills to degrade because we’re too lazy to stand up for ourselves, then we deserve to be called bad writers. We can’t just be bystanders as writing is bullied into submission. Stand up and be proud to know how to write!

Facebook has become one of the most used social networking sites in the world, but it comes with a price. Friendships, marriages, and lives have been ruined because of a simple post on Facebook. Although video games like Second Life and W.O.W. have managed to do the same, nothing can compare to the impact social sites  have had on our perception of reality. While a marriage can end because the spouse would rather live his/her Second Life, sites like Facebook and Myspace can tear apart lives as they are being lived. Cyber bullying and murders have stemmed from the trust and lack of privacy on these sites.

Say you have your address posted on your Facebook and your profile is not set to private. Then, you post that you’re going on vacation for a certain amount of time. Someone can very easily go to your house and break in knowing all the information necessary to never be caught in the act.

On this website, it details the 13 Craziest Deaths caused by social media sites.

http://www.ranker.com/list/the-13-craziest-deaths-caused-by-social-media/whitney-milam

The first is relatively harmless compared to others on the list.  A woman from New Zealand got bored  and decided to psychologically scar dozens of young men. She created fake profiles for young women and killed them through various, traumatizing ways.  And this as I said is a tame one. The next one immediately makes you drop your jaw in horror. A woman separated from her husband does the unthinkable and changes her status to single. Terrible huh? She separates from him and changes her status, OMG?! It seems normal, but her husband felt otherwise. His response wasn’t a nasty message on Facebook. Instead, he sneaked into her parents house and stabbed her to death. You’re thinking this only happens in nightmares, not reality, but no. He did it and then he killed himself. Seems just a little over reaction for a simple status change.

Now I know I used to care about what was put on Facebook and what I put on there. It was only after growing up a little did I realize that there was no sense in caring about what people typed about. It matters what people say in person instead. However, these people aren’t just teenagers, they are full grown adults.

As I read on the scenarios get weirder. A son kills his father for taking away his Myspace. I mean, come on, Myspace? It wasn’t even that great! It was cluttered and too many fake emo kids were on it. However, the kid was suicidal and this act of discipline drove him to the edge. Just a different one.

It’s not just limited to Facebook or Myspace. Twitter is a fast, easy place to threaten and kill people you don’t like. One pair of friends had just this happen. One guy killed the other, fighting over a girl, and tweeted about it later. To paraphrase Kanye West, “How could he be so heartless?”

The moral of all of these stories is not to care about what is posted on social networking sites. In the digital age, more social interactions are being transferred online.  However, not everything on there should be taken to the extent that it is. In the real world things can get out of hand pretty easily. Someone can be provoked to do violent things with just a few sentences. It has become a scary world when you can post something on the internet and physically suffer for it.

To me, being careful about the political or spiritual beliefs you have is important to survival nowadays. Sometimes relationships can change because people have become more sensitive to the things being placed on social networking sites. It’s important to take things with a grain of salt in your virtual world and the real one. Please be careful because the next post…could be your last… duh duh duhhhhhhh!

The premise of the story is to show the life of a family after one of its members has committed suicide. Although this a problem almost everyone will have to deal with, people hate talking about death. In the Western culture, there is a stigma to those who focus on death. Yet, the existentialism inside me feels differently. I have a soft spot in my heart for the existential side of philosophy and most people have no clue what it actually means.

Existentialism isn’t some bourgeois hobby for the rich or a struggling artist’s way of life. It is the most applicable form of philosophy. In essence,  it helps you to realize what life could possibly be worth and how to achieve the life you want. I took an existential philosophy class junior year of my undergraduate education. It was paired with psychology, but the subjects were intermingled.

The first day of class, one of the most important subjects of existentialism was addressed. Death? Why do we need it? Should we fear it? And what happens after it? All of these questions are ones that existential philosophy attempts to answer. What does this have to do with The Gathering? EVERYTHING! Although it may not occur to some readers to think about philosophy while reading this book, it stood out immediately to me. For me, as a student of philosophy, how people handle death is one of the most fascinating subjects. It happens in so many different ways that the experience is hard to ignore. So, when I began reading of the family’s reaction to Liam’s death, I began to wonder.

The simplicity of the mother’s  horror, the obligation of his sister’s finances, and lastly the alteration of life after someone has died. Now the idea of death is heightened in this scenario because the death wasn’t timely or of natural causes. Liam killed himself by walking into the sea and drowning himself. Now I’m sure there are more details I will learn later, but this scene reminded me of the existential novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus. It also deals with the Western culture’s view of death.

The main character, Meursault, deals with his mother’s death in an unconventional, but familiar way. The familiar part lies in the fact that he was changed the moment his mother died. While he also had to take care of the funeral arrangements, his mother’s death allowed him to truly begin living. It wasn’t because she was holding him back physically so to speak, but the change in his life spurred a more important inner reflection that changed his life forever. Instead of tearing his life apart like it is doing to Veronica. Both responses are normal for humans to make. However, many cultures including Western will insist that they are abnormal and the behavior must stop after an appropriate amount of time. You get two days off work, if you’re lucky, and the grieving process must end after oh maybe two or three weeks.

But is that realistic to force a person to suppress feelings of grief, depression, or relief after a death? The existentialist would say no. The natural course of grief must be allowed to flow on its own or it will forever bar that person from returning to their equilibrium or becoming something better. For Veronica, her grief has only begun, but it is having drastic effects on her marriage and her family. It is possible she may never recover from the death of her brother. It may change her to the point where she must get divorced and do something completely different.

But what’s wrong with that? To me, death transforms us to a life without that person. Although death is a normal and vital part of reality, it should not be feared. It is something that happens. It needs to be handled with care. Not coddled or babied, but understood. If a person grieving needs weeks, months or years…then they should have it. That’s the way of life. When life ends it affects the living in a way we will never truly understand. You must be able to let that energy go.

For Meursault, he reacted in a way most people say a psychopath would. He was alive again. He responded in the opposite custom of the area and changed his life for the better. It was what he needed to find himself. People frowned upon Meursault for not caring enough about his mother. The existential would say that Meursault understood the nature of death and didn’t feel that he should react negatively. In some cultures death is celebrated with parties around the graves of the recently deceased. It is even ingrained in Western culture, which demands seriousness when referring to death. We gather together, eat food, and discuss the memories of the one past. In a way, all humans know that death is an inevitable end to all of us. To the ones who are conscious of it and celebrate, more power to you!  In the end, the person who realizes that death is coming no matter what, can free themselves from the fear of not living and finally live the way they want.

Check out The Stranger by Albert Camus, it is a terrific read!

The Stranger

For those who have never heard, seen, or imagined let me describe the history to you. Well, actually Wikipedia is going to tell you:

“The Cathedral of Learning, a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus in theOakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Standing at 535 feet (>163 m), the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cathedral is the tallest educational building in the Western hemisphere and the second tallest university building (fourth tallest educationally-purposed building) in the world…The Cathedral is a steel frame structure overlaid with Indiana limestone and contains more than 2,000 rooms and windows. The building is often used by the University in photographs, postcards, and other advertisements” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Learning).

Just inside the doors of the first floor Commons

So, now that you know a little bit more about this building let me tell you about my experience in it. Just walking up to the building is magnificent in itself. If you’re like me and aren’t used to huge buildings you forget that there are dozens of stories above. I forgot to look up while walking in and only until I left did I realize how truly astounding the Cathedral was.

In the first three floors, it is called the Commons Room, which is typically used for classrooms and housing the internationally acclaimed Nationality Rooms. The tall ceilings and Gothic furniture take you into a different time. As my friend so humorously put, “It’s like if you stepped into Hogwarts, I can’t get any work done because I just spend the entire time looking around.”

Aerial view of first floor Commons

But what are these Nationality Rooms. Well, upon visiting this Cathedral, there are several rooms, which are created to represent different nationalities. These 27 rooms display accurate architecture and decorations from African heritage to Yugoslavia. The rooms are beautiful that some are off limits to enter. You can only peek inside when the room is unlocked.

The fun doesn’t stop there. High back Gothic chairs and ornate benches scatter the room as Pittsburgh’s college students and the public gather to study in this astounding piece of history. There are huge stone fireplaces, heavy, decorated doors, and even stone staircases that make you think you’re in a castle.

A set of stairs. There's my wonderful high school friend I was visiting!

All in all, the experience was amazing. I wish I could have spent hours in this huge building, which also houses: a ball room, auditorium, the Dept. of Humanities, the Dept. of Philosophy (one of top 5 in the U.S.), Dept. of English, Religious Studies, and the School of Social Work. It also is home to many memorial rooms from benefactors, Studio Theater, and the University Honors College complete with full library. It is a treasure hidden in plain sight among the many tall buildings of Pittsburgh. A place of history, nationality, and inspiration for all who enter its revolving doors. I know I was affected by a short ten minute visit. So, if you’re in the area, please check it out!

Side view of the special edition case

Walking down past the University of Pittsburgh, we stepped into Caliban Bookstore. In a previous post, I described my wish to find a bookstore close to me that I would be able to find awesome books at a good price. I walked into a little piece of book heaven. Shelves from the floor to the ceiling stacked with books! There was a glass case by the register full of rare first or odd editions of books. I walked around with my friend and discovered the world I had been missing.

Loved seeing this many books!It's like a candy store that never cures my sweet tooth for reading

As I browsed the  books available, I marveled at the time it took to acquire all of these amazing and interesting reads.

We went downstairs to the fiction section and I was right at home. I combed through the the shelves looking for books that I would benefit from owning.

I settled on two books from Issac Asimov, who will help me to understand science fiction. Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation  are now sitting at home with me along with a book I will need for my trip to Ireland. James Joyce’s Ulysses by Stuart Gilbert will be my guide to James Joyce after the horror of my Irish short fiction class.  I hope that I can return to the store soon because it was such a rewarding experience. It reminded me of the joy that comes with searching for a book and the love of carrying it home with you.  Below are some more pictures from our tour of the bookstore.

My wonderful finds

They even have a cabinet for tiny books

A look inside the cabinet

The copy I'm currently reading looks like this

I’ve had some experience with Irish writing. Mostly James Joyce, Jonathan Swift, John Millington Synge, and William Trevor. My experience first came in a Irish Short Fiction class during my junior or senior year of my undergrad. It would have been an amazing class if it had not been at 8 o’clock in the morning three days a week. There is just something about 8 a.m. that makes the brain want to work less. It was interesting nonetheless and I expect my time in Ireland will be much better than sleepy mornings in the basement of the library.

Returning to the purpose of the post, I have spent the last few days starting Anne Enright’s book.  The book is set in Ireland and England, so far. To me, they are exotic enough that just the areas she describes excite me to read more. As much as I enjoy her use of vocabulary and detailed scenes, I force myself to slow down. Too frequently, readers forget how to read slow and simply skim over the words only processing half of them. My friends and family may think I’m a fast reader because I finish books quickly, but that is not the case. In fact, I would describe myself as a slow reader on purpose. I want to savor the moments of a book whether it is for school or for pleasure. Reading shouldn’t be a race to get to the end of the story. A book should be read at the pace that it’s written.

For example, Carrie by Stephen King, I read in one sitting or a few hours. It was relatively small for a Stephen King novel, but the fast paced nature of the story is what led me to read it quickly. The author somewhat dictates how fast or slow you read the book, but the story also does that.  For the books I’m required to read for school, though, I deliberately take my time to savor and analyze the book. As I have  learned from my first residency, there is a difference between reading as a reader and reader as a writer. I struggle automatically to differentiate the two while reading.

However, I’m not alone as it is a skill acquired with time and practice. It is easy to enjoy a story and read for pleasure. It is another to read from an academic point and analyze potential literature for archetypes and common themes. It is another point all together to read as a writer. It is completely different to read thinking about style, voice, and point of view. To understand how a writer wrote such a fantastic story from the inside is a task not easily handled. So, I have only delved 1/5 of the way through the world Enright has created.

I am following an Irish family as they suffer through one of many deaths. The main character, Veronica Hegarty, is suffering most from her brother’s suicide. Although, from the first few pages, their deranged mother seems to be suffering more than all of her remaining children combined. I think the casual nature that Enright brings in the dysfunction of the family appeals most to me. Everyone thinks they have the most dysfunctional family, until they look at the house next door or down the street. It is that familiarity that your family infuriates you (Veronica being the responsible one and having to take care of all the arrangements) and soothes you (hasn’t happened yet, but I hope it will) without you even realizing it. She depicts a playful relationships with the past and present of Veronica’s life in addition to an imaginative past of her grandparents’.

I am struck by how quintessential family can become in just a few chapters. It doesn’t have to relate at all to your own family because people always find similarities in the smallest things. It is simply the struggle of dealing with family and death that makes this book so easy to connect. Two elements that in one way or another shape every human being, every living creature on the planet. I look forward to each page, attempting to understand the bits of Irish culture embedded in the  story as well as the overall feeling of Enright as a writer. If I do have the chance to meet Enright, I will surely faint for the sheer fact that she is an acclaimed Irish writer. More importantly, I will again be in awe of those much more experienced and eloquent doing the most valuable thing in the world, writing.

So, I leave you reader to return to The Gathering and coincidentally my cup of Irish Breakfast tea. Hope you will check out this little piece of Irish life as I prepare to write a paper about it.

http://victoriamixon.com/2012/01/30/7-things-i-learned-last-week-from-stephen-king/

While the author has a somewhat bland view of King’s non-fiction Danse Macabre, she like most readers of King understands the subtle influence he has in his writing. He manages with little effort to insight thought provoking ideas about horror that people infrequently invoke. After his general interpretation of one of the author’s favorite books, The Haunting of Hill House, he allows her to see what he is really getting at.  I will only discuss what most struck me, but there are indeed seven things she discussed.

“Fiction is seeking pressure points,” the author dutifully reiterates from her time with King.   She explains how King and many other writers like him use adrenaline and then the temporary relief from the scares they give.  King has an uncanny way of finding what we fear most, and showing us why we fear it.  Then, he relieves us from the fear of what could potentially happen by putting a supernatural spin on the story in addition to resolving the conflict we fear most.  The way King does this makes me and all of his constant readers come back for more because he knows how to get us to come back every time. The thrill of a good horror book can be the best entertainment when done by someone who knows what people are most afraid.

She then goes on to explain how the involvement of the reader relies on the story being believable. While King typically has some type of fantasy or science fiction element to his stories, these aspects don’t change the fact that he makes the story believable. He chooses things in life that could potentially happen regardless of the science fiction or fantasy. He allows things like time travel, telekinesis, and ghosts to be inserted into the normal terrifying parts of life as if they are supposed to be there. That’s what I love about King. He takes the most interesting qualities of fantasy and make them as real as the computer you’re reading this on.

Although the blog post went on to analyze more of King’s ability to understand fiction, I will let you read and decide for yourself whether King’s insights are useful or not. I adore King in every shape he takes writing in. He manages to make me afraid of going outside my house and yet comforted in knowing that things aren’t always as bad as they seem in a world where dragons and vampires don’t exist. Not that we know of anyway.

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/02/two-reasons-why-books-matter/

The author of the blog uses two simple explanations for the value of books to people hundreds of years ago, and more urgently to the people of today. He focuses on the books that aren’t documenting history, but the human condition. Stories that propel the reader to reflect upon life because of the characters or the situations.

Books don’t just open you to an entertaining story, they open you to the realities of life that you either didn’t think of before or chose not to think about.  They force you to look at life differently although it isn’t always a conscious change. Sometimes, the effect a book has on your life doesn’t occur to you until days even months after.

More stunning than the  stories that make up the books is the development from simple oral tradition or word of mouth to print. Life before the printing press was difficult.  The few copies of a book were held by powerful religious or political people and as a regular person you had to trust their interpretation of those books because you probably didn’t read.

If you did read and get your hands on a copy of a book, it was awe inspiring. The work it took for someone to use ink and write word by word an entire copy of the original book was astounding. The dedication it took to use calligraphy and ornate drawings was shocking as you flipped through the thick, beautiful pages.  The author of the post describes this as he shows a picture of a page from a book printed in 1495. 1495? And it’s still intact for this person to have it placed on his wall! Now to us, printing millions of copies of a book or even the newspaper is taken for granted.

For the people to experience a book that only had one or two copies worldwide, it changed everything. No longer did you have to travel thousands of miles to read a new or important book. You could have it sent to all the major/minor cities for very cheap. But it wasn’t cheap quality. The quality of those books, the paper and the ink could outlast the people that wrote them. This is the center point of the post. That the quality of these old books is so magnificent that  it lasts for hundreds of years.

The fact that some of the first books ever printed can last more than the ones produced now is not a mystery. The type of materials used and the care taken to give a good quality product is something companies don’t abide by now. We make books the cheapest way we know how and that’s why the books won’t last very long.  The comments below the post invite you into an interesting world of people who prefer print, but also understand the use of electronic books. It may be a long shot, but we can appreciate print books and digital books as equal, important contributions to the magical invention called the book.

I found the following link as I was spreading my social feelers on Twitter. Following Random House on Twitter may seem cliche, but to me, it’s smart. Random House posted this and I dutifully followed finding a connection to my past post.

http://writetodone.com/2012/02/03/know-thyself-7-truths-about-writers/?utm_source=Social&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=RHSocialMedia

These 7 truths about writers might seem like silly stereotypes, but in essence they are all true at some point to a writer. It’s important to recognize that writers are sensitive creatures and we aren’t these mysterious, abstract names on the covers of books. We are unique in that we understand the human condition in an intimate way. At the same time, we must separate ourselves from everyone to focus what we know into the best possible version of the story we must tell.

It isn’t merely a struggle to get paid for creative work or writer’ s block. It’s an overall struggle to handle a life alone with your computer (typewriter, paper) and yearning to live the life that you so diligently write about.

People assume that just anyone can write (celebrities, politicians), but you have to train your mind and your heart to be lonely because the stories in your head won’t go down on paper if you aren’t alone to let all the dirty secrets pour out.

So, I have found a little blogging humor. It eases my mind whenever I can’t think of something to write and for one time only gives me a subject to write a post on.

You think your life is bad when you can’t blog. Take a look at this guy:

Don't stress it. Really, don't stress it!

If you look like this each time you blog, maybe this isn’t the hobby for you. Sometimes, that fear of what to write is unavoidable. Writer’s block is probably the toughest thing in the world to get past because there are many factors that contribute to that creative block. Lack of privacy (thinking time), stress, work, emergencies, and sometimes just thinking too hard can make a writer stop working as well as before. Most times, a break is all that you need. Maybe take a nap, do some gardening, or work on something completely opposite. Then, the aha moment can appear in the most unlikely of places. There is no sure fire way to get rid of writer’s block, but there is a start for you. If you can’t think of what to write, don’t freak out. Because you freaking out over the little things may biologically be blocking your creative juices from reaching the grey matter in your head.

Relax. Drink a cup of tea. Read some of a good book and eventually the inspiration will come back to you, I promise.

I hope you had a good laugh at this blogger’s expense because sometimes you need a laugh to get through the hard times. Good luck blogging/writing!

Today, I sent off my first assignment of at least 10 pages of fiction.  Within 24 hours, I had a response from my lovely mentor. I was anxious and excited at the same time. Every minute of our workshop time, I was eating up every word she said. The experience and the stories she told were magical. The insight she gave into the stories I wrote revolutionized the way I looked at my own work.

At the same time, I’m constantly struggling with how well my writing is being received by those in the “biz”: published authors, professionals, and teachers. I have a fear like most writers that my stories aren’t going to be good enough for people to enjoy. But that is not important at this point because I’m just starting to hone my craft and it will take a lifetime to become a good writer.

As I open the e-mail, my mentor explains that the following notes are meant to teach me things that I will be able to apply to all my writing. I sigh in relief knowing that what lies ahead are a lot of little details I don’t know about yet. I feel like I’m back in grade school learning the rules of Grammar.  I read through  13 pages of my story, watching as my mentor solved all of the problems I had in the story.

See, I have problems putting too much detail, too much information in the  story and not moving the action along enough.  And Jane Boyer, my mentor, solved the problem for me in a few paragraphs. Now this skill of being able to know what belongs in a story no doubt comes with time and practice, which I have neither. At the end of my mentor’s assessment, she gave me comforting words that although my draft was rough, it was not the end of world. It won’t be the end of the world, I’m sure, but if I can’t learn to keep those pesky unneeded details out it will be.

The hardest part about the program is the ability to grow as a writer. I know all of the things I need to write, but I don’t know if I can write them well enough. I hate that I’m afraid of my own writing, but I guess it helps me to constantly improve myself.

What do you struggle with as writer? Is it developing a character or depicting the perfect scene? What advice do you have for me struggling with putting too much detail or others with their problems?

Always remember your purpose regardless of your struggles

Goodreads.com

It’s simple. You join the site. Invite your friends from other social sites.  You pick your favorite genres and they give you a list of books with their cover art. Then you can either click if you want to read the book or rate the book if you have read it. It adds to read list and a to-read list. You can then receive recommendations based off those books from the website or your friends. You can share the books you’ve read and suggest them to your friends on the site. I’ve already spend over an hour and only have 50 books on each list.  It’s a free easy way to document books you’ve already read and compile an ultimate wish list for reading. I suggest it to anyone who has a long reading list and wants to share their favorite books with their friends.

http://www.goodreads.com/

Anynewbooks.com

It is pretty self-explanatory by the title that it alerts you to new books being published and for sale. It sends you an update via e-mail each week in the genres you enjoy.  I’m so excited to see what my updates introduce me to, especially because I am always in search of new books in the genre I write in.  So, this is the perfect place to find new books all of the time.

http://www.anynewbooks.com/

Finally, a vital resource for unpublished writers beginning the craft comes from the website for Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. It has a special section related to a blog about scams and other topics for new writers to be aware.  It details everything from  literary agent fees (scams), lists of publishers/literary agents not to query, and other legal advice.  After reading just one section on the site, I have become familiar with the scams of inexperienced literary agents to avoid. It is definitely a place for unpublished and experienced authors to get up-to-date information about the ins and outs of the writing/publishing world.

http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/

So, these are my suggestions for book lovers and writers to join unique online communities and receive important information about the craft. Without waiting any longer, go sign up and see how much fun you can have. I know for a fact it will teach you some things and open a whole new world of books to you.